* China deeply regrets the US Treasury's decision to label China "a currency manipulator," the People's Bank of China said Tuesday. Such a label on China does not meet the quantitative criteria for the so-called "currency manipulator" set by the US Treasury, the central bank said in a statement.
* Russia will start the full-scale development of missiles banned by the collapsed Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty if the United States begins to do so, President Vladimir Putin said Monday (August 5).
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired two short-range projectiles into its eastern waters early Tuesday, the fourth such launch in less than two weeks, the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The exact type of the projectiles was under analysis, the JCS added.
* US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to freeze property of the Venezuelan government. The order has been effective since 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on Monday.
* Britain is to join an international maritime security mission to protect shipping in the Gulf, the Cabinet Office in London said Monday. The mission will see the Royal Navy working alongside the US navy to assure the security of merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a statement by the UK government said.
* China said it would temporarily not rule out the possibility of levying additional tariffs on imported US farm produce with deals made after Aug. 3, and related Chinese companies have halted purchases of US farm produce, according to the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce Monday.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday condemned the annual military exercises jointly held by the United States and the Republic of Korea that started on Monday.
* Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will go to a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci later this week with the sole aim of restarting peace negotiations to bring again together the estranged communities of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, his spokesman said on Monday.
* China and Iraq vowed to enhance cooperation and develop bilateral relations in various fields, the Chinese embassy in Baghdad said in a statement on Monday.
* Ukraine has asked the United States to sell more Javelin anti-tank missile systems, said William Taylor, charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Ukraine, in his interview with Radio Liberty Ukrainian service published on Monday.
* The Syrian army on Monday declared in a statement the resumption of military operations in the northwestern Idlib province, citing the cease-fire violation by the rebels, the state news agency SANA reported.
* More than 30 tonnes of illicit drugs were seized by Australian authorities last financial year (July 1-June 30), according to the latest Illicit Drug Data Report, released by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) on Tuesday.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) will test take-off and landing military drone, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday. The first vertical take-off and landing drone, produced by the IRGC's ground force, will undergo a test in near future, IRGC commander Ali Koohestani told Tasnim.
* Turkish and American military officials discussed the safe zone in northern Syria in Ankara on Monday, Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.
* An airstrike killed more than 40 people and injured more than 50 others in the southern Libyan city of Murzuq later Sunday (August 4), a local official said Monday.
* The death toll in weekend mass shooting in El Paso, US state of Texas, has risen to 22 after two people died at a hospital, El Paso police and medical officials said Monday.
